Back Pain Exercises

Back pain exercises can be very useful for dealing with pain in this area. This is because the pain can be due to weak muscles in the back, the abdomen and also the buttocks. These muscles all support the spine and are called core muscles. If you have had an injury or surgery it may be that your doctor or physical therapist has recommended that you exercise for 10 to 30 minutes a day to aid recovery

The primary goal of back pain exercises is to strengthen the muscles that support the spinal column. The exercises for dealing with back pain are really quite simple and do not require any special equipment other than a floor mat. Simple back pain exercises may include abdominal contractions where you lie on your back with your knees bent and tighten your abdominal muscles as if you were trying to squeeze your ribs down towards your back. You have to hold this position for five seconds before relaxing and repeating up to 10 times.

Additional simple back pain exercises are to lie on your back with your legs outstretched and to simply move your ankles up and down, which should again be repeated 10 times. Wall squats involve standing against a wall with your back flat on the wall whilst slowly walking your feet out in front of your body. You should keep your abdominal muscles tight while bending both knees until they reach a 45° angle. This position should be held for 45 seconds before slowly walking back up right. It can then be repeated 10 times.

Other back pain exercises include heels slides where you lie flat on your back and slowly bend and straighten your knee. Heel raises are where you stand with your weight evenly spread between your feet and slowly raising and lowering your heels. Straight leg raises involve lying on your back with one knee bent and one leg straight. You need to tighten your abdominal muscles and press your lower back firmly into the mat whilst slowly lifting your straight leg up for about 6 to 12 inches. Once you have it in this position you should hold it for one to 5 seconds. All these back pain exercises can be repeated 10 times.

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